What pandemic? Luxury and super sports car brands such as Bugatti, Rolls-Royce and Lamborghini set world sales records in challenging 2021 conditions.

The new large Ghost sedan helped Rolls-Royce achieve record sales last year.

We all thought 2020 was a difficult year until 2021 reared its ugly head, taking the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic to new heights. But as it turned out, the very top of the new car market seemed to be immune to obvious problems, and sales records were shattering.

Yes, companies such as Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bentley and Porsche achieved record global sales last year. Let it sink in for a moment.

Now you are probably wondering how it happened. The bad news is that there's no clear explanation, but the semiconductor shortage that plagues big brands doesn't have the same impact on their low-volume counterparts.

While this is part of the "supply" equation, the question of "demand" comes into play. The obvious answer is that the rich got even richer during the pandemic, but it's probably not that simple.

With international and, in some cases, domestic travel still difficult, many people aren't spending money on tourism, and for those who are lucky, that usually means their savings have gone up.

Bugatti Chiron

This, of course, extends to the wealthy, many of whom have seemingly shelled out for a luxury car in 2021. So which model did the rich gravitate toward?

Well, Bugatti prepared 150 cars, a staggering 95% more than in 2020, to surpass its previous record from 2019, and the Chiron sports car became the basis for its models that have found homes.

Aston Martin DBX

Aston Martin produced 6182 vehicles, up 82% from 2020. Sales winner? Of course, the big SUV DBX. In fact, high-volume crossovers are also a theme for the following high-end brands.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce moved 5586 vehicles, a staggering 49% increase from 2020, and broke the previous record set in 2019. The large Cullinan SUV also plays a key role.

Lamborghini controls

Bentley has delivered 14,659 vehicles, a crazy 31% increase since 2020. But aside from confirming the Bentayga large SUV as its best-selling model, the luxury brand hasn't provided a model division either.

And then there was Lamborghini, which delivered 8405 vehicles, up 13% from 2020. The Urus large SUV accounted for 5021 units, the Huracan sports car accounted for 2586 and the Aventador sports car accounted for 798.

Porsche sold 301,915 vehicles, up 11% in 2020 from 88,362. The Macan mid-size SUV (83,071 units) leads the Cayenne large SUV (41,296 units), Taycan large cars (911 units), 38,464 sports cars (30,220 units), Panamera large cars. (718 20,502) and Boxster and Cayman (XNUMX XNUMX).